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With all the terms floating around out there when we discuss CBD, it’s easy to get confused. We’re going to walk you through the differences between CBD, Cannabis (or hemp) essential oil, and hemp seed oil, so you can choose the right product for your own lifestyle and needs.

First, what is CBD?

CO2 Hemp Extract (CBD) is extracted from industrial hemp – cannabis. It’s a safe, natural extract commonly thought to be incredibly helpful with a variety of issues. The benefits are due to natural chemicals in the cannabis plant called cannabinoids.

Cannabinoids are the chemical components of cannabis we think of as “CBD.” CBD is produced naturally by your body and also by many plants, especially cannabis.

Yes, you did read that correctly! Your body actually makes its own cannabinoids! But let me explain a little further. For the purpose of this article, we’re going to talk about the two most important kinds of cannabinoids:

Endocannabinoids are the type of cannabinoids that occur naturally in your own body.

Phytocannabinoids come from plants, including cannabis.

Both types of cannabinoids interact with your body’s endocannabinoid system (eCS) to help maintain full-body balance.

CBD as an isolate

The most common form of CBD is actually an isolate (like Fractionated Coconut Oil) because it is isolated from the other plant compound using a process called chromatography, and contains only cannabidiol, without any of the other chemical constituents of the cannabis plant. This assures that there can’t be any psychoactive effects from THC, but also removes all the other cannabinoids and terpenes.

That leaves you with just the part of the plant you want to use, which is good!

But while CBD on its own may have some benefits, we now understand that many of the positive effects of the cannabis plant come from the way the many chemical constituents, not just CBD, interact with each other. This is called the “entourage effect” and we’ll talk about it more in a minute. First, let’s go over the differences between different types of CBD products.

Broad-Spectrum CBD

Broad-spectrum CBD starts as full-spectrum CBD and when the THC is removed, it becomes “broad-spectrum.” This means that all the other wonderful and useful chemical constituents that make up the cannabis plant are still intact, but there’s no chance of any psychoactive effects at all because all the THC is removed.

These other constituents include many potent terpene alcohols, especially linalool. Linalool is familiar to anyone in the essential oil industry as the piece that gives some of our favorite oils (like Lavender) their therapeutic properties. Linalool can also be found in oranges, hops, pepper…and many more.

Full-spectrum CBD

Full-spectrum CBD contains trace amounts of THC. The legal limit for these types of products is less than 0.3%, a small enough amount that it still won’t have a psychoactive effect at all. Many people taking CBD find that this small amount of THC helps with more serious issues.

Cannabis/Hemp essential oil:

Cannabis sativa (or hemp) essential oil is extracted using steam distillation. This means that only the aromatic molecules (or the “essence” of the cannabis sativa plant are collected. Cannabis (or hemp) essential oil is rich in terpenes, which are found to have similar therapeutic effects as CBD. That’s good! But there’s one more thing to consider:

CBD and other Cannabinoids cannot be extracted through the steam distillation process. That means there is no CBD or any of the other useful cannabinoids in the resulting essential oil.

Hemp Seed Oil

You’ve probably heard about Hemp Seed Oil before. This powerhouse carrier is part of our carrier oil collection! Plant Therapy’s Hemp Seed Oil is made from the seeds of the female Cannabis sativa plant but contains absolutely no THC component, despite being surrounded and protected by blossoms carrying trichomes (which produce THC). The seeds are cold-pressed at low temperatures to produce a lovely dark green oil that has a slightly nutty scent.

You can use the carrier oil alone or alongside other carriers and essential oils. It is a natural, non-GMO whole food product that is very nourishing to the skin and hair due to its high content of omega fatty acids, proteins, and vitamin E. Again, there is no THC, CBD, or any other cannabinoids present in Hemp Seed Oil.

Like everything we do, Plant Therapy is bringing our company values to our CBD products.

Safety: You can trust that we are transparent about our product and what it does. We don’t make unsubstantiated claims. We do cite our resources and provide GC/MS tests for each oil (including CO2 Hemp Extract). This way you know exactly which chemical constituents go into your CBD.

Quality: High-quality products have always been a priority, but CBD is incredibly important. We sourced the highest-quality product right here in the United States from reputable, ethical growers.

This is great information. Do you have any info on the contraindications of using CBD oil with certain medications. Some of the research I have done indicates that it affects the liver in the same way that grapefruit juice does and some medications strongly warn about taking them with grapefruit juice.

Hi Linda! We always suggest talking to your doctor if you are taking medications and want to use CBD – there just isn’t enough information out there yet to fully say how each medication will interact with CBD, if at all. I hope that helps!

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